Agent Danny O’Rourke only wants one thing. His sister, Aubrey, to come home. He couldn’t save her from being taken, but the least he can do is help her through her turmoil. Except one thing is standing in his way—the Caldwell family. He wants to hate Kat Caldwell the most, but no matter how hard he tries, he doesn’t hate her. He wants her. So badly. When he starts connecting the dots in his latest murder case, all pointing to Kat as the next victim, he’ll do everything in his power to keep her safe. He won’t fail her like he failed his sister. The closer he gets to the truth, the more he realizes he might be all wrong in his assumptions. He already lost his heart to her, but he won’t lose her to a killer.

The entire Lucky Town Novel series (each book can be read as a stand-alone): Escaping Memories: Logan & Aubrey, Dangerous Memories: Danny & Kat.

EXCERPT

Danny stepped off the elevator and checked his watch. Two thirty. Not too early and not too late.

His first reaction when Deke told him about the chocolates had been to rush to Kat’s side. As a friend? As a concerned brother to one of his sister’s friends? As an FBI agent? As something more?

He couldn’t answer any of those questions.

The longer he sat, thinking, he had started to calm down. Only a fraction. Enough not to rush to the apartment.

He worked hard all morning going through the entire case, photo by photo, paper by paper, looking, searching for that one anomaly that would rip the case wide open.

But nothing.

Nothing popped up.

It could all be coincidence. Chocolates weren’t the same as flowers. But the similarities had him panicking. He couldn’t let it go. As far as they knew, nothing was sent to victim number two and three, but Deke said he would start looking into it. He needed to check on Kat.

A serial killer could’ve followed them to Tampa and latched onto Kat immediately. That was only one of the theories they talked about.

But she wasn’t. She couldn’t be. He wouldn’t let her get hurt.

Stopping in front of Aubrey’s door, his hands glided to his pockets until he realized he didn’t have a key anymore.

He knocked. A mellow sound drifted through the door.

Kat liked classical music. Interesting. He pictured her more of the hard rock kind of girl. The way she always let loose with her words, her eyes dancing with fire, hard rock would fit her much better.

Classical music? It didn’t fit her, which made her even more intriguing. A woman with so many layers.

What was taking her so long?

He knocked again.

The music wasn’t on that loud. She should be able to hear him. Maybe she was simply ignoring him. That sounded plausible. He refused to be ignored.

“Screw this.”

Danny walked two doors down to Mrs. Bederman’s apartment, a sweet, eighty year old woman who took care of Aubrey’s apartment when he couldn’t find the time.

Her door swung open. Soft wrinkles covered her face, almost hiding her beauty. She might be eighty, but he still thought she was a beautiful woman.

“Ah, the handsomest man finally graces me with a visit, besides my Harold. No one can surpass my Harold’s looks. May he rest in peace.”

Or maybe he thought she was beautiful because her personality was so refreshing. She always said he was the handsomest man she ever met, besides her Harold. She always added that.

He had passed away two years ago. Any time she mentioned his name, she always ended it with, ‘May he rest in peace.’ Such love. Danny envied her in that respect. He wasn’t sure he wanted love, but if he did, he’d want exactly what Mrs. Bederman had with her Harold.

“The most beautiful woman still manages to make me blush,” he replied, eliciting a hearty laugh from her. She was a small, frail looking woman, but she had a deep, heavy laugh that always put a smile on a person’s face.

“What can I do for you? How’s Aubrey? Come on in.” Her tiny hand waved him in.

“Aubrey’s fine. Thanks for asking. I don’t have my key to her apartment. Can I get yours?”

“Problems?” She walked over to a beautiful cabinet that Harold had handcrafted himself. Her husband had been a carpenter, creating the most beautiful furniture Danny had ever seen.

“Of course not. Aubrey’s friend is packing up her apartment. She’s moving to Minnesota. I want to check on the progress.”

Mrs. Bederman opened the top drawer, shuffling her tiny fingers around. “I’m sorry to hear Aubrey didn’t come as well.” She looked at him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

She made a clucking noise as if she didn’t believe that statement. Walking back over to him, her tiny steps slow and steady, she grabbed his hand and placed the key in his palm.

“You don’t sound fine, so don’t try to lie to this old woman.” She squeezed his hand before letting it go. “Aubrey’s friend is a very beautiful woman.”

“You’ve met her?”

“No, but I saw her walking down the hallway. Very beautiful.”

Danny chuckled and winked as he turned to leave. “Don’t try to play matchmaker, Mrs. Bederman. That beautiful woman is the sister of the man Aubrey’s with. Talk about weird.”

“Oh, so you agree she’s beautiful.” She winked back and closed the door.

Danny couldn’t help but laugh some more as he walked to Aubrey’s door and unlocked it. Swinging open the door, his laughter died like a knife slicing his chest open, as the door hit a bit of resistance.

“Kat!”

Sliding into the apartment without pushing the door into Kat too much, Danny then knelt down to Kat’s crumpled body and lifted her head gently. A sticky substance coated his hand.

“Kat, sweetheart, wake up.” He couldn’t tell how bad her head wound appeared. The floor wasn’t coated in a pool of blood, but the side of her head was bright red. She had to be okay.

A small moan escaped from her sweet lips.

“Wake up, Kat. Let me see those beautiful eyes. That fire in them.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead when she moaned again.

Scooping her up, he carefully walked her to the couch and laid her down.

“Kat…” He swiped a tender hand across the top of her head and then grabbed for his phone. Something he should’ve done immediately. She needed medical attention. How stupid could he be?

He started to dial for an ambulance when a soft hand covered his. He glanced up. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with relief.

“Who did this to you?” It came out a little harsher than he intended, but seeing her lying unconscious on the floor still wouldn’t evaporate from his mind.

Her eyes fluttered closed.

“Kat, don’t—”

“Danny, stop yelling at me. I have a headache,” she whispered, then slowly opened her eyes again.

He grabbed her hand still covering his that held the phone and squeezed. “Then don’t scare me. You probably need stitches. What…” He took a deep breath so it wouldn’t come out harsh again. “What happened?”

Her free hand ventured to her head. She winced when it touched the wound covered in blood. “I fainted.”

“What?”

A small smile appeared. “I fainted. I’ve never done that before in my life. I don’t know what came over me. I…fainted.”

“Did you eat lunch? You can’t overwork yourself packing. You have to take care of yourself. I thought someone did this to you.” He turned his head away, trying to reel in his emotions. He couldn’t even stop the pounding of his heart.

“I did skip lunch today, but only because I was making such good progress. I…it shouldn’t have…”

Meeting her gaze again, he saw it. Something he never thought he’d see in her eyes.

Fear.

Even two months ago when they pulled her and Aubrey out of the dark chamber, smoke swirling around them as a fire nearly took their lives, he never once saw fear from her. Only persistence and determination. That’s all he ever saw in her eyes. Always so strong and tough.

“What happened, Kat? Just tell me.” He pulled her hand to his lips and lightly kissed it. Her body trembled, the fear slowly melted away as desire started to lace the depths of her eyes.

That look he could handle. He’d rather handle that look, even as wrong as it was to want, than the terror he saw moments before.

“Someone knocked on the door. I don’t know what came over me. When I looked through the peephole, I got dizzy and everything went…black.”

I love anything that has to do with romance. As long as there’s a happy ending, I’m a happy camper. I love baseball (Go, Twins!) and creating awesome crafts. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, working in that field for several years before I became a stay-at-home mom. When I’m not hanging out with my wonderful family, I’m writing a sweet contemporary romance or a romantic suspense that keeps you guessing until the end.